“The Missing Words” (2023-2024)

Race and sexuality. These are two concepts I had never heard of while I was still studying in China. Yes, I was still in Grade 3 then, but I had not the slightest idea of these concepts until I went to Canada, where I learned about the traumas, possibilities, and hope embedded within these identities. China is a relatively monoethnic country, so the lack of exposure to race is understandable. But sexuality, which describes how a person expresses themselves as a sexual being, should garner global awareness. Yet, there are no Chinese words equivalent to sexuality. This realization incentivized me to write this essay, which I would like to perceive as a letter of advocacy. 

While drafting and writing this essay, I was troubled by many doubts. Am I critiquing Chinese culture too harshly and thus betraying my roots and country? What position am I in to evaluate a culture with the ideologies of another? And how can I ensure that my advocacies are for the betterment of those in China? In essence, I wrote with uncertainties, self-doubts, and even fear. I expressed my concerns to my expository writing professor, and he reassured me of my initial incentives. Even if I am amplifying the issues I see in my home country and judging Chinese culture from a Westernized perspective, I am critically reflecting on this world instead of blindly obeying the status quo. 

Luckily, if you scroll through Chinese social media today, the acceptance of homosexuality is far beyond the previous years. But the root of the problem persists. I don’t know how far my essay and messages can go to make cultural and institutional changes. Still, it records my hope for an inclusive, aware, and wonderful Chinese society—one that I can ever so proudly call home.

Ting Ting (Ziqiu) Wang, ’26, is an economics and psychology student studying in the College of Arts and Science. Though she enjoys exercising her rational mind while learning about psychology diagrams and economic theories, when it comes to writing, she prefers to write about people, cultures, and the living world around her. Growing up in China, Canada, and the US with plenty of culture shocks, Ting Ting has learned to reflect upon the society she lives in, establish her own values, and advocate for the communities she identifies with. In this essay, she talks about identities and contrasting cultural perspectives through personal anecdotes and asks: what is missing in our language?